Laura Benitez' s stories

French oil major Total returned to the euro market for the first time in a year on Wednesday, sticking to its usual aggressive pricing strategy and taking advantage of being a Single A rated credit amid red-hot market conditions.

After reloading early from the summer break last week, corporate syndicate desks are gearing up for a bumper second half, with borrowers from all corners of the globe desperate to lock in Europe’s ultra-low funding costs.

Corporate syndicate teams in Europe were firing on all cylinders on Tuesday, announcing a string of fresh mandates, although geopolitical tension caused by North Korea staved off intraday execution plans.

Swiss-French cement group LafargeHolcim capitalised on being the first out of the blocks after nearly a two-week hiatus in corporate issuance on Tuesday, raising €750m with barely any premium on Tuesday.

Considerable inflows into European credit is proof that the ECB’s CSPP is working and that the “lust for returns” is alive and kicking, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said in a note published on Thursday.

Investment-grade corporate spreads are poised to hit the all-time tights of 2007, benefiting from the continued support of the ECB. But index rating quality is not the same as in 2007, and any comparisons are misleading, Citigroup analysts said in a note.

Investors will try to exert pricing pressure on British American Tobacco this week when it seeks to raise an expected US$25bn-equivalent of bonds in the US and European markets in the middle of corruption probes and tobacco sector turmoil.

Investors will try to exert pricing pressure on British American Tobacco next week when it seeks to raise an expected US$25bn-equivalent of bonds in the US and European markets in the middle of corruption probes and tobacco sector turmoil.

Italian toll road operator Superstrada Pedemontana Veneta is yet to surface in the market, having wrapped up its roadshow, where investors expressed caution over the complex nature of the proposed deal.

Diversey has set price talk for its €450m 8NC3 unsecured notes at 5.75% area, having yielded to investor wishes on Friday and dropped a controversial covenant loophole that rubbed them up the wrong way.

Unilever is set to raise €1.9bn via a triple-tranche offering which will include a zero coupon four-year as it capitalises on positive earnings results last week that highlighted its ability to boost returns as an independent firm.

Issuance from property firms surged in the second quarter, as the sector makes a play on Europe’s dirt-cheap funding conditions and investors’ willingness to forego credit protection and sector risk in return for higher yields.

German real estate firm Demire priced a €270m 5NC2 deal at a price more akin to an investment-grade bond on Wednesday, demonstrating the strength of German real estate credits amid a deluge of deals, some tricky, in the high-yield market.

Nestle is in the market with a benchmark eight-year euro bond, but investors will have to wait a bit longer before it starts taking out bigger chunks of debt for its high-profile SFr20bn share buyback programme.

The European high-yield market exploded into action on Monday, with five issuers announcing deals in a ‘desperate’ last-ditch attempt to raise debt ahead of potential rates volatility and a summer slowdown.